You will look at the headline and you may ask yourself, “What sort of a question is that? Here I am, expensively educated at one of the premier schools in NCR and with a professional degree – Chartered Accountancy – and I am asking if I am educated.
On top of that I have been an avid reader for decades. I also have a library of well over 600 books – physical and digital – and I have read at least some of them.
But recently one person whom I meet periodically told me that she thought that although I was well read I was not well educated.
Well she is welcome to her opinion, of course. But it made me think. What does it mean to be educated?
I will consult a dictionary meaning later in this article. But right now I have my own answer to what it means to be educated.
The English philosopher, Francis Bacon, wrote (in his essay On Studies):
To spend too much time in studies is sloth. To use it too much for ornament is affectation. To make judgments solely by their rules is the humour of a scholar … crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them and wise men use them for there is a wisdom above them and beyond them won by observation.
Just do a Google search and you will get Bacon’s classic essay (On Studies). It can change your life. More than just change it; it can transform it. For the better.
This quote – for me – describes what it means to be educated. Studies – or reading books – is necessary. But one must not overdo it or make judgment solely on the basis of what you have read in a book. The situation you are facing is unique and you must come up with a tailored response.
The key – for me – is the phrase – … there is a wisdom above them and beyond them won by observation …
As I said earlier you must come up with a tailored response to the challenges of life and that requires not just bookish knowledge but also observation. And that to me is what is meant by being educated.
Now for the dictionary meaning of the words – Being educated:
To be educated means to possess critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, and the ability to apply knowledge practically, rather than merely holding academic degrees. It involves being a lifelong learner who can analyze problems, understand diverse perspectives, and act with ethical judgment and cultural awareness.
This dictionary meaning includes my understanding of what it means to be educated. It also includes a lot else that I did not think of. But that’s ok.
I think I will end here. I did a word count just now and found that I had written only 446 words while I have a rule of minimum 500 words for all my articles. But I must not apply my rules with the humour of a scholar, blindly and unthinkingly. I have finished what I wanted to say so forget the word count and end the blog.
Update: Here’s an update that should deal with my word count. I have figured out why the lady I mentioned at the start of this blog thought I am not well educated. Simply put I am childlike and it is not difficult to pull my leg or make a fool of me. Due to some psychological complexes I find it difficult to recognize malice in others.
There are advantages to being childlike. I have a blog on the subject. See below
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